Belthangady : Days after eight students of a government school in Belthangady were hospitalized after drinking suspected poisoned water drawn from the school well, villagers of Shibaje gram panchayat allayed fears of poisoning of water in the local tank.

On Friday morning, Narayana Poojary, pump operator found a strange odor emanating from the tank water and decided to check on the issue. He observed that someone had tampered with the pipe from the river and tank water had turned pale in colour.

As many as 70 households, as well as Perla government higher primary school, depend on the tank for drinking water needs.

The incident has angered villagers seeking to know why the police have so far not identified the culprits behind the poisoning incident in the first instance that occured on December 2.

Following the protests, Beltangady deputy tahsildar, Satish Kumar, and circle inspector, Sandesh, visited the spot and assured of identifying the criminals at the earliest.